Saturday, July 7, 2007

Sansooman said...

You think that a union is bad for you ? Let me tell you that my wife is a union teacher with UTLA, and we get life time medical after her retirement,and a 96% pension, and a 6% stipen, which equals a 100% pension, It's the only reason I never had to worry about our security, it sure was not because I trusted these band of selfish liars, who pretend to have your best interest at heart. If there was ever a need to have representation in a company, it is in this company. Just talk to any SFV driver about their management issues....You think Russ Fleck is a problem.....Greg Sullivan of SFV ( SS TERMINAL )is one of the biggest offenders of moral busting, and driver hunting for his own self fed ego in order to further gloat and have bragging rights in his little driver meetings to threaten and retaliate against drivers, who lean in favor of unionizing....His operations mgr Levon kasparian loved and embraced unions as a driver,and now openly speaks of union hating to further scare SFV drivers into submission...I say bring it on....

3 comments:

CHANGE TO WIN
said...

"A Secure and Dignified Retirement"

Change to Win is devoted to achieving a secure and dignified retirement for all workers in America. At retirement, no one should have to face the prospect of working forever to keep their head above water or face a dramatic decline in income that jeopardizes their financial security.

The American labor movement played a leading role in establishing today’s retirement system. It was at the forefront of the effort to create Social Security – the foundation of our retirement that benefits all workers. Through collective bargaining the labor movement led efforts to get private companies and government employers to provide workers with a defined-benefit pension, which guarantees retirees with a steady income for life on top of Social Security.

Unfortunately, the current system benefits too few workers and is under tremendous stress. Social Security is under attack by the White House and Wall Street who want to privatize it, which would do away with a guaranteed income and shift the financial risk to beneficiaries. Many companies have dismantled their defined-benefit pension plans or refuse to provide a plan to their employees. The result – 40% of workers had an employer-provided pension plan twenty-five years ago, but today only one half that many have such a plan and most of them are in unions. Many employers have shifted to retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s for their workers, but these typically provide much less income than a pension, shift all of the risk to the worker and often do not include an employer contribution. Worst of all, half of all workers have no retirement security plan other than Social Security.

Change to Win believes we should build on the current public and private systems to ensure all workers in America a dignified retirement before generations of workers are faced with a financial crisis, and the burden that this might create for their children.

These are Change to Win’s principles for an American retirement system:

Ensure a Guaranteed Income: All retirees should be guaranteed at least 70% of their pre-retirement income for life, depending on the person’s household unit, income history and gender. This minimum amount, which is recommended by retirement experts, would include all sources of retirement income, including Social Security benefits.

Strengthen Social Security: Social Security should remain a public insurance program, not be privatized. It should also be adequately and fairly funded to ensure that it provides a minimum floor of protection for all Americans. Currently, the average retiree receives about 36% of his pre-retirement income through Social Security, but it is likely to decline in the future. This amount is only half the replacement income needed by a typical beneficiary.

Preserve and Strengthen Existing Private and Public-sector Guaranteed Pension Plans: About 20 percent of workers have employer-provided pension plans known as defined-benefit plans, which close the gap between the amount Social Security provides and what a retiree needs to live. By providing a guaranteed income, these plans are far superior to 401(k) plans; they should be preserved and strengthened. In the private sector, despite five years of record corporate profits too many pension plans are still under funded and many have been eliminated. The federal government needs to hold corporations accountable to the promises they’ve made to their workers. In the public sector, we oppose efforts to convert pension funds to 401(k)-like plans.

Guarantee all Workers a Secure Retirement: All workers without a guaranteed pension need to have one to close the gap between how much a retiree needs to live and the amount Social Security provides. Retirement plans should be portable and funded by stable employer contributions to ensure workers accumulate the benefits they need without creating uncertainty for employers. Investments should be pooled to reduce the costs of professional management, and workers should have a voice in plan governance to ensure accountability

Employee MisclassificationIt seems like a tactic too ridiculous to work: a company looking for a way to cut costs announces that its employees aren’t actually “employees,” but are instead “independent contractors” who just happen to work there full time. Therefore, the company isn’t legally obligated to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for them, or to provide them with workers compensation when injured, unemployment compensation when laid off, protection from discrimination or any other benefits.

It may seem ridiculous – but it’s happening to millions of workers , and it’s costing federal and state governments billions of dollars and preventing hard-working men and women from reaching the American Dream.

It’s called “employee misclassification,” and it takes advantage of the fact that the law requires companies to do things for their full-time employees that they don’t have to do for independent contractors.

When you think of an “independent contractor,” you probably think of someone who works for many companies over the course of a year, on projects of fixed length – not someone who has been working full time for a single company for years. But loopholes in the law allow companies to call those full-time employees “independent contractors.”

Retirement Security at Risk for Millions of AmericansIt's no secret that our middle class is under attack. No serious presidential candidate is denying that working America faces stagnant wages, rising health care costs and retirement insecurity, all of which put the American Dream at risk.

But a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mercer Human Resources Consulting revealed yesterday in the LA Times shows a secure retirement is more endangered than previously thought:

Nearly two-thirds of employers that offer traditional pensions have closed their plans to new hires or frozen them for all employees, or plan to do so in the next two years, according to [the study].

We're not just talking about one sector, as in manufacturing, where jobs are being outsourced in the large numbers.

...the trend is no longer confined to troubled industries such as steel, auto and airlines, but now involves healthy companies such as IBM and Verizon.

Experts say closing pensions and using that money to increase contributions to 401(k) plans, where employees are responsible for managing their own retirement money, is not making up the difference.

The offsetting benefits of 401(k)s "are not measuring up," said David M. Certner, legislative policy director for AARP, the giant services and lobbying organization for senior citizens. "There are a lot more ways people can get tripped up with 401(k)s than with traditional pensions."

The study of 162 employers, including some of the nation's largest companies, also found:

25% of employers questioned had closed their pensions to new hires within the last two years 12.9% had frozen their plans for all employees. More than 30% of employers expected to make similar changes in the coming two years.